| The Greatest Story Ever Told About The Greatest Man That Ever Lived |
| The Bible is a Puzzle |
The Bible is written like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Similar to someone handing you a bag full of jigsaw
puzzle pieces. And our job is to put that puzzle together without seeing the final picture until the
end. So we separate the edges and then the colors, and then start to fit the pieces into the puzzle.
As the Bible says: " A little here a little there, line upon line, precept upon precept" Isaiah 28:10
Jesus knew what that final picture looked like. He gave us bits and pieces of it in everything he
said. We have to put it together in the right order. Some pieces seem like they fit in certain
places, but if we get the wrong piece in the wrong place, the rest of the pieces just won't fit. That
is how God's Word works. We have to put everything in the right order and in the right place for
the rest of it to fit.
The OT prophets didn't have the whole picture. Many times they spoke the Word of God not
realizing that they were speaking about something that would happen in the distant future. And
sometimes what they said was for the near future. This is why it is sometimes difficult for us to
discern what already happened from what is still to come. Sometimes we are told, but other times
we are not and other times it could refer to either, the near or distant future.
The Book of Revelation is written very differently and is much easier to understand for that
reason. There are 7 seals, 7 trumpets, and 7 bowls, and they all happen in Sequence. First the 7
seals are opened, one to seven, and then the trumpets and then the bowls. This way we can see
the timeline. Sometimes we are told specifically, such as in Revelation 13 that the "beast" will rule
for 3 1/2 years. So we know we are half way through the tribulation at that point.
The best way to study the Bible is to look up ALL the scriptures that apply to a certain topic. If we
apply this principle in discerning the Word of God, then bit by bit the picture emerges. And when
we find a seeming contradiction, or when something doesn't fit, we need to dig deeper because
one thing is certain: God didn't make a mistake....we did. Too many times Bible scholars simply
make something up to make it fit, or base their understanding on only one or two scriptures,
disregarding the rest of the scriptures which do not fit with what they want the Bible to say, and
get way off track. But when everything fits without us having to "fill in the gaps" then we know
we have understood God's Word correctly.
Once the picture starts to emerge, it becomes easier to add pieces to the puzzle. It makes more
sense then and the pieces fit together more precisely. And as we take a little here and a little
there and add line upon line, we begin to see the whole story from Genesis to the end of
Revelation. And what an awesome story it is. So how is your puzzle going? Do you have most of
your puzzle completed? Does it all fit or do you have to put some pieces aside because they
don't? Are you stuck on a few crucial pieces that don't seem to fit anywhere? Yet all the pieces
are really there. None are missing. The Bible says that everything we need for life and godliness
is there. All we have to do is put it all together correctly and we will be able to see what Jesus
sees.
puzzle pieces. And our job is to put that puzzle together without seeing the final picture until the
end. So we separate the edges and then the colors, and then start to fit the pieces into the puzzle.
As the Bible says: " A little here a little there, line upon line, precept upon precept" Isaiah 28:10
Jesus knew what that final picture looked like. He gave us bits and pieces of it in everything he
said. We have to put it together in the right order. Some pieces seem like they fit in certain
places, but if we get the wrong piece in the wrong place, the rest of the pieces just won't fit. That
is how God's Word works. We have to put everything in the right order and in the right place for
the rest of it to fit.
The OT prophets didn't have the whole picture. Many times they spoke the Word of God not
realizing that they were speaking about something that would happen in the distant future. And
sometimes what they said was for the near future. This is why it is sometimes difficult for us to
discern what already happened from what is still to come. Sometimes we are told, but other times
we are not and other times it could refer to either, the near or distant future.
The Book of Revelation is written very differently and is much easier to understand for that
reason. There are 7 seals, 7 trumpets, and 7 bowls, and they all happen in Sequence. First the 7
seals are opened, one to seven, and then the trumpets and then the bowls. This way we can see
the timeline. Sometimes we are told specifically, such as in Revelation 13 that the "beast" will rule
for 3 1/2 years. So we know we are half way through the tribulation at that point.
The best way to study the Bible is to look up ALL the scriptures that apply to a certain topic. If we
apply this principle in discerning the Word of God, then bit by bit the picture emerges. And when
we find a seeming contradiction, or when something doesn't fit, we need to dig deeper because
one thing is certain: God didn't make a mistake....we did. Too many times Bible scholars simply
make something up to make it fit, or base their understanding on only one or two scriptures,
disregarding the rest of the scriptures which do not fit with what they want the Bible to say, and
get way off track. But when everything fits without us having to "fill in the gaps" then we know
we have understood God's Word correctly.
Once the picture starts to emerge, it becomes easier to add pieces to the puzzle. It makes more
sense then and the pieces fit together more precisely. And as we take a little here and a little
there and add line upon line, we begin to see the whole story from Genesis to the end of
Revelation. And what an awesome story it is. So how is your puzzle going? Do you have most of
your puzzle completed? Does it all fit or do you have to put some pieces aside because they
don't? Are you stuck on a few crucial pieces that don't seem to fit anywhere? Yet all the pieces
are really there. None are missing. The Bible says that everything we need for life and godliness
is there. All we have to do is put it all together correctly and we will be able to see what Jesus
sees.